Garw SBGC manager Ryan Blanche says his sides title win was down to team spirit and togetherness as they celebrate promotion to Division One of the South Wales Alliance.
With the end of season approaching, Garw know their position for next season now, with not only promotion secured but the title also wrapped up.
Blanche who has spent almost a decade at the club says the title win is a reward for those who have worked hard at the club over the years.
“As a club we have created core values around hardwork, honesty, spirit and togetherness and everyone has bought into those values and allowed us to create a environment that has allowed us to achieve this little bit of success.”
The league leaders currently hold a 16-point gap over nearest place Trebanog, although the 2nd placed side do have two games in hand, but it is still some feat for the club, to have only suffered one defeat throughout the whole season.
“Honesty has been our mantra this season. We have tried to remain grounded all season, by giving honesty in our evaluation of team and individual performance, and then working really hard to put things right during the week.”
Having only two games moved over the season has allowed Garw to play their normal game.
“The momentum we were able to create as the weather was pretty kind to us with only 2 games off all season, allowed us to build a winning mentality and then continue forward with that mindset.”
As well as dominating the league, Garw have had no shortage of goals this season, with over 102 goals scored and only 19 conceded. Lewis James, Ryan Hughes and Jason James all have more than 15 goals this season, showing how the goals have been shared out but still they remain all prolific.
They have all had a fantastic season for differing reasons. Lewis started the season injured, and it took a few games for him to find his feet, but as soon as he did he went from strength to strength and his goal tally just shows how important to the team he is.
It is great to see Ryan scoring 20+ goals this season, as his life this season had an amazing event as he became a father for the first time and for him to still remain consistent and get those goals is great for him and for the team.
Jason signed in the summer after a year out of football and our initial thoughts were he was going to be a central midfielder, but his composure in the box forced us to push him further up the field and he has thrived there.
With almost a decade of involvement in the club, both as a player and as a manager, this ranks as the highest achievement in Blanche’s tenure at the club.
“It has been a huge re-building job, firstly as a player and then player manager. However this isn’t the pinnacle for us, we have achieved our first goal of winning the league and gaining promotion, but there is still lots of challenges to be met and hard work to be done.
We know as a club, as team and as a management team there are no short cuts, no magic wands, we have to believe in our environment, believe in our strategy and continue pushing forward.”
Garw travel to Tynte Rovers in their penultimate game of the season.
(Featured Image: AndyThePhotographer)
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